U2 started the ‘90s as the biggest band in the world, but by the end of the decade “seemed well on their way to irrelevance,” MX especially coming off the less-than-stellar 1997 Pop album. “Beautiful Day” and parent album All That You Can’t Leave Behind “re-established U2 as the world’s biggest band” RS’09 as they re-invented their sound yet again, but doing so in a way that also recalled “the skyscraping sound of their Eighties classics.” RS’09

“It’s lofty, sure, but it’s so catchy, it’s so touchy feely, and it’s so sweeping” CS that it makes one forget how U2 frontman “Bono’s become somewhat of a punchline to every rock ‘n’ roll joke this decade.” CS The song recalled 1985’s “The Sun Always Shines on T.V.” by long-forgotten Norwegian pop band A-ha with a similar melody and the lines “Touch me…take me to that place” and “Teach me…I know I’m not a hopeless case.” TB-294

Bono said the inspiration came from his experience with Jubilee 2000, a benefit which urged politicians to drop the Third World Debt. Musically, the song evolved from the more punk-oriented “Always,” which eventually became the B-side for “Beautiful Day.” SF The message about a man who realizes the true value of what he has after losing his material possessions took on particular poignance in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina when U2 performed the song live at the 2002 Super Bowl in New Orleans. AB’00 The song was also used by NBC television for nightly recaps of the 2000 Olympics in Australia. SF

The song became one of the first major releases available for download. Fans could go to U2.com and stream it before its release. SF It was the band’s 14th number one in their native Ireland and either topped the charts or hit the top ten in more than a dozen other countries. WK

Note: Footnotes (raised letter codes) refer to sources frequently cited on the blog. Numbers following the letter code indicate page numbers. If the raised letter code is a link, it will go directly to the correct page instead of the home page of a website. You can find the sources and corresponding footnotes on the “Lists” page in the “Song Resources” section.

As pop music’s reigning queen for the previous two decades, Madonna showed no signs of letting up in the new century. She “headed triumphantly into the new decade with this heavily electronic classic” AB’00 by tapping Mirwais Ahmadzaï, a French DJ and producer, “to craft stylish beats and update her sound for the ’00s.” CS The result was “one of Madge’s most rollicking songs of any decade.” CS

Lyrically, the song celebrates the power of musc to bring people together. She said the inspiration came from a Sting concert. When he played hits by his former band The Police, she noted that “Everyone was practically holding hands…I mean, it really moved me…And I thought, ‘That’s what music does to people.’” WK

“Music” was the second most successful dance single of the decade in the United States, only behind Madonna’s 2005 “Hung Up.” WK It was her twelfth chart-topper on the Billboard Hot 100 which, at the time put her only behind The Beatles, Mariah Carey, and Michael Jackson as the artist with the most #1 songs. It also hit the pinnacle in 24 other countries worldwide WK and was nominated for Grammys for Record of the Year and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.

The video showed Madonna celebrating a plush lifestyle while riding around in a limo. The large fur coats she wore helped hide her four-month pregnancy with son Rocco. An animated section was also added to the video to substitute for live action shots that would have been too difficult to film.

The song also helped sound the death knell for Napster, which was at its peak of offering free digital downloads, when an unfinished version of “Music” was leaked months before its official release. She released a statement that the music “was stolen and illegally played on various websites.” WK The publicity elicited the support of many artists to join in lawsuits against Napster. In July of 2001, it closed its doors as a free service. SF

Note: Footnotes (raised letter codes) refer to sources frequently cited on the blog. Numbers following the letter code indicate page numbers. If the raised letter code is a link, it will go directly to the correct page instead of the home page of a website. You can find the sources and corresponding footnotes on the “Lists” page in the “Song Resources” section.